Associating objects in databases by rate-based tagging

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide automatic systems and methods for associating objects in databases of a web site by rate-based tagging. The frequencies of users entering specific tag terms for objects stored in the databases of the web site are used to determine hard associations between objects and tag terms and between objects. When the frequencies of user tags exceed established thresholds, hard associations between objects and tag terms are established. When objects are identified or determined to have hard association with tag terms, the objects are determined to be more clearly associated with the corresponding tag terms. Therefore, they should be highlighted or featured in more prominent locations on web pages of the web site to increase users&#39; confidence in content of the web site. To identify hard-associated objects, more weights can be assigned to the hard-associated objects, which allows them to be more likely to be selected for display in prominent locations. In addition, objects that are determined to have hard associations with tag terms can also have hard associations with one another due to the common tag terms they share. The hard association relationship between objects can be displayed through links to associated objects when an object is selected for display.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/165,537, entitled “Automated System and Method for Creating a Web Site Based on a Subject Using Information Available on the Internet,” filed on Jun. 30, 2008, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/165,548, entitled “Automated System and Method for Creating a Web Site Based on an Emerging Subject of Internet search,” filed on Jun. 30, 2008. This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/238,320, entitled “Automated Tagging of Objects in Databases,” filed on the same date as the present invention. These related applications are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an automated system and method that searches the Internet for information to create a web site, which allows users of the web site to create tags to objects in the databases of the web site. More particularly, the present invention relates to utilizing the frequency of user created tags to establish a definitive association between two objects in the databases of the web site.

2. Description of the Related Art

Internet web sites are built to provide information and services to meet demands of various Internet users. Internet web sites can provide information and services through, but not limited to, text, photos, videos, audio, and applications, such as games and interactive online tools. For example, some web sites provide transaction functions to achieve e-commerce goals. Web sites are built to achieve goals of owners of the web sites. The exemplary goals include, but are not limited to, attracting potential buyers, building brands, introducing products, information exchange, social networking, etc. Web site content is presented to users in web pages, typically written in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), which are accessible via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The content of the web sites is typically stored in databases, which are used to create web pages handled by programs run on web servers.

Constructing (or building) a web site can consume a lot of time and resources, such as people, hardware, and software. Builders of a web site need to decide what content is relevant and interesting to the target users. The builders also need to design the layout of the web site, decide the type of software and hardware needed, place data in databases, etc. After the web site is built, administrators are needed to maintain the operation of the web site, such as adding new content to the web site, deleting outdated, incorrect, or inappropriate content from the web site, and to keep the hardware systems running, etc. All these activities consume resources and time. Further, information relevant and interesting to Internet users evolves at a very fast pace. Global trends and Internet user population also change constantly. Thus, Internet users demand updated and relevant content. If the content is not provided, users may go to other sites that provide the content they desire.

It is in this context that embodiments of the present invention arise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide automatic systems and methods for associating objects in databases of a web site by rate-based tagging. The frequencies of users entering specific tag terms for objects stored in the databases of the web site are used to determine hard associations between objects and tag terms and between objects.

When the frequencies of user tags exceed established thresholds, hard associations between objects and tag terms are established. When objects are identified or determined to have hard association with tag terms, the objects are determined to be more clearly associated with the corresponding tag terms. Therefore, they should be highlighted or featured in more prominent locations on web pages of the web site to increase users' confidence in content of the web site. To identify hard-associated objects, more weights can be assigned to the hard-associated objects, which allows them to be more likely selected for display in prominent locations.

In addition, objects that are determined to have hard associations with tag terms can also have hard associations with one another due to the common tag terms they share. The hard association relationship between objects can be displayed through links to associated objects when an object is selected for display.

It should be appreciated that the present invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, a system, or a device. Several inventive embodiments of the present invention are described below.

In one embodiment, a method for automatically generating a hard association of an object with a tag term entered by users for the object of a web site is provided. The method includes receiving tag terms entered by users for objects of the web site and placing the received tag terms with corresponding objects in at least one database. The method also includes determining a criteria of hard association for objects to establish hard associations with tag terms entered for the corresponding objects. The method further includes processing data in the at least one database of the web site to identify an object and a corresponding tag term that pass the criteria of hard association. In addition, the method includes automatically creating a database to store the identified object and the corresponding tag terms that pass the criteria of hard association.

In another embodiment, a method for automatically establishing a hard association between two objects through a common tag term and displaying the hard association of the two objects in a web page of a web site is provided. The method includes processing data in at least one database storing objects having hard associations with corresponding tag terms to identify the two objects that have hard associations with the common tag term and to define a hard association between the two identified objects. The method also includes automatically creating a database to store the two identified objects and the common tag term. When one of the two identified objects is selected for displaying on a web page of the web site, a link to the other object is displayed along with the object selected.

In yet another embodiment, a system for automatically creating hard associations of objects with corresponding tag terms entered by users for the object of a web site is provided. The system includes at least a server for storing objects in the web site, and a server with an algorithm for collecting tag terms entered by users for objects in the web site. The system also includes a server for storing databases of hard associations of objects with corresponding tag terms entered by users. Further the system includes a server for storing algorithm of automatically creating hard associations between the objects with the corresponding tag terms.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and like reference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1A shows an entry page of a portal for a user, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows an Entertainment entry page for a user, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1C shows a Worlds entry page for a user, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1D shows the entry page of Movie Worlds, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1E shows an entry page for the Worlds site of Star Wars™, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1F shows a web page to access all photos in the Star Wars™ site, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1G shows a page with a selected photo, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows a system for automatically creating a Worlds web site, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B shows the components in a Worlds server, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2C shows a form that can be used by an administrator to create a web site based on a subject, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2D shows a photo database in the photo storage of FIG. 2B, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2E shows a search result page for the search term “yoda,” in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A a table storing tags (or tag terms) for photos, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B shows a table created for objects passing the hard association criteria with different tag terms, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3C shows a table correlating objects having hard associations by having common tag terms, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3D shows a web page displaying an object, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 3E shows a process flow for automatically creating a subject-based site, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3F shows a process flow for establishing hard associations for objects and displaying objects with hard associations, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A shows the components in a Worlds server, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B shows different databases in the hard association database server, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide automatic systems and methods for associating objects in databases of a web site by rate-based tagging. The frequencies of users entering specific tag terms for objects stored in the databases of the web site are used to determine hard associations between objects and tag terms and between objects.

When the frequencies of user tags exceed established thresholds, hard associations between objects and tag terms are established. When objects are identified or determined to have hard association with tag terms, the objects are determined to be more clearly associated with the corresponding tag terms. Therefore, they should be highlighted or featured in more prominent locations on web pages of the web site to increase users' confidence in content of the web site. To identify hard-associated objects, more weights can be assigned to the hard-associated objects, which allows them to be more likely to be selected for display in prominent locations. In addition, objects that are determined to have hard associations with tag terms can also have hard associations with one another due to the common tag terms they share. The hard association relationship between objects can be displayed through links to associated objects when an object is selected for display. As used herein, the term “hard” as used in relation to associations means that a link is established. The link is established, in one embodiment, when an object's association with a tag term passes a threshold, such as a certain number of users or a certain percentage of users considering the tag term being associated with the object. Under such a condition, the object can be considered to have a “hard” association with the tag term. Hard association can be defined through the content management system, such as by using a database to relate the object to the title or subject.

As described above, web sites are created to meet demands of various Internet users. One of the demands is to have a web site allow users interested in a particular subject to view information of the particular subject, to interact with one another through information exchange (e.g. sharing photos, videos, music, etc.), and to discuss topics related to the particular subject through tools (e.g. message boards, blogs, questions and answers, etc.).

For example, some movie series, such as Star Wars™, may have many devoted fans. Fans of Star Wars™ see Star Wars™ movies, read articles about the stories and characters of Star Wars™, view photos and videos of Star Wars™, and play with Star Wars™ games and toys. Some fans even join Star Wars™ conventions. These fans may actually crave more content related to the movie series. The devotion may in fact make them experts about story plots and characters of the movie series, and other subjects related to the movie series. These fans would be very interested in having a web site on the subject of “Star Wars™,” where they can read obtain and share information about Star Wars™, and meet other Star Wars™ enthusiasts.

General portal sites, such as Yahoo!, or other entertainment-related, sports-related, or social-networking-related portal sites creates web sites that interest Internet users. A web site with a theme (or subject) (e.g. Star Wars™) that is of interest of many people, would attract many Internet users to the site. As discussed above, constructing (or building) a web site can be very time and money consuming. Further, after the web site is built, administration is needed to maintain the operation of the web site, such as adding new content to the web site, deleting outdated, incorrect, or inappropriate content from the web site, and keep the hardware systems running, etc. All these activities require resources, such as paid administrators. Further, global trends, Internet user population, and information available on the Internet evolve at a very fast pace. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an automated system and method for creating and maintaining a site of a particular subject of interests to many people.

The figures and description below provide information regarding how an exemplary web site with a particular subject, such as “Star Wars™,” which is of interest to numerous Internet users looks like. Systems and methods to automatically create such a web site are also provided. Other types of entertainment-based web sites can also be created with the systems and methods described below.

The Star Wars™ web site can be categorized under various categories, such as entertainment or movie, in a portal, such as Yahoo!. In the example here, the Star Wars™ web site is placed under “Entertainment” category in Yahoo!. FIG. 1A shows an entry page 100 of a portal, such as Yahoo!, for a user, User-1, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A user, such as User-1, can access the entry page 100 by type in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the portal, such as “www.yahoo.com.” The web site described here belongs to a portal. However, the concept of the invention is not limited to create a web site in a portal. The concept of the invention applies to creating any web site for users interested in a particular subject. The site is created to allow users to view information related to the subject, and to share (exchange) information.

In entry page 100, there is a search box 101 and a “Search The Web” button 102 near the top of page 100. User-1 can enter a search term, which can be a word or a phrase, in the search box 101 and push the “Search The Web” button 102 to initiate a search. In one embodiment, on the left side of entry page 100, there is a directory field 105, which includes a list of directories with different subjects and links, such as Auto link 106, Entertainment link 107, and Finance link 108, etc. Below the list of directories, there is a button 109 for “More Yahoo! Services,” which can be clicked to access additional service directory not listed in the directory field 105. These directories are services provided by Yahoo!. They include many subjects, such as auto, entertainment, finance, games, weather, maps, and jobs, etc. In the middle of the entry page, there is a content field 110, which contains information for User-1 to view. On the right side of entry page 100, there is a field 115 with additional content and advertisements, User-1 can click on the Entertainment link 107 to access information services related to entertainment provided by Yahoo!.

After User-1 clicks on the Entertainment link 107, an Entertainment entry page 120 for the Yahoo! Entertainment directory is opened (as shown in FIG. 1B), in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The Entertainment entry page 120 includes a field 121 of links to different categories of entertainment, such as Music link 122, Movies link 123, TV link 124, Games link 125, Broadway link 126, and Worlds link 127, etc. The Music Link 122, when pressed, would take the user, such as User-1, to a web page with information related to music and music industry, and additional links to music-related subjects. Similarly, Movies link 123, TV link 124 and Games link 125 would take the user to web pages related to movies, TV shows, and video games. The Worlds link 127 would take the user to a web page with information related to different “Worlds” created for different popular subjects that are related to the entertainment for online users. For example, the different “Worlds” include web site for Star Wars™ movies, which is named as “The World of Star Wars™,” and web site for the movie “Titanic,” which is named as “The World of Titanic,” etc. The Entertainment entry page 120 also include a field 128 of content and ads, which has entertainment-related content and ads for User-1 to view.

When User-1 clicks on the Worlds link 127, a Worlds entry page 130 is opened. In the Worlds entry page 130, there are web sites created for users based on different categories of entertainment, as shown in FIG. 1C in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Entry page 130 includes a directory field 131, which has a list of category links, such as link to Movies category 132, and link to Music category 133, etc. As mentioned, different sites are listed under different categories. For example, the site of “The World of Star Wars™” is listed under the category of “Movie,” and can be accessed by pressing the link to Movies category 132. On the left side of entry page 130, there is a field 135 of top Worlds sites with a list of most popular sites under the “Worlds” category, such as Worlds-Site-1 136, Worlds-Site-2 137, and Worlds-Site-3 138, etc. In the middle of page 130, there is a field 139 of content and ads, which contain content related the “Worlds,” and ads for User-1 to view.

To find a “Worlds” site of a particular subject, such as “The World of Star Wars™” site, User-1 can click on the link to Movies category 132. Alternatively, User-1 can click on the site link directly if the link to the site is available on the front page, such as among the links for the top Worlds sites in field 125. In the examples here, User-1 clicks on the link to Movies category 132 to access an entry page of Movie Worlds 140. FIG. 1D shows the entry page of Movie Worlds 140, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In page 140, there is a field 141 for top movie sites, which includes a list (with links) of most popular (top) movie sites under the Worlds section of Yahoo! Entertainment. In the example shown in FIG. 1D, the top sites for the Movies Worlds are “Movie Site 1,” and “Movie Site 2,” etc. To the right of the field 141 for top movie sites, there is a field 144 for list of Worlds sites related to movies. In one embodiment, in field 144 there is an area 145 of US (United States) Movie Sites, which includes links to Worlds sites for US movies, such as “Star Wars™” 146, “Indiana Jones” 147, and “Wizard of Oz” 148, etc.

In field 144, there is also an area 149 for foreign Movie sites, which includes a list of Worlds sites related to foreign movies, such as “Foreign movie site 1,” “Foreign movie site 2,” etc. The two listings, US movies and foreign movies, are merely used as examples, other categorization of Worlds sites related to movies are also possible. For example, the Worlds sites related to movies can be categorized by the period of years the movie is released, such as 1980s, 1990s, etc., by the types of the movies, such as action, drama, and musical etc., or by alphabetical order of the titles, etc.

When User-1 clicks on the link to “Star Wars™” 146, an entry page 150 for the Worlds site of Star Wars™ appears with the title of the page being “The World of Star Wars™” as shown In FIG. 1E, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. On entry page 150, there is a search box 101′, which allow User-1 to enter a search key word, which can be a word or a phrase. Next to the search box 101′ there is a search button 102′, which, when pressed, allows User-1 to search for content in the current “The World of Star Wars™” site. The content in the current site include photos, videos, discussion boards, etc. Below the search box, there is an area 151 for lead article of Star Wars™, which can include text and photos related to the lead article. In one embodiment, the lead article can be uploaded by a user of the site, such as by the most active user or by the user who has uploaded the most photos and/or videos to the site, etc. In another embodiment, the lead article is assigned by an administrator of the site, Alternatively, other algorithm can be used to select lead article, such as by highest votes received from users of the group, etc.

To the right of the lead article, there is an area 152 for one or more advertisements. In one embodiment, the advertisements are related to Star Wars™. For example, the advertisements can be for sci-fi (science fiction) movies, Lego Star Wars™ toys, or other merchandize related to Star Wars™, etc. In another embodiment, the advertisements target the users of the Star Wars™ site. For example, the users might be mostly college-educated, and mostly male, etc.

Below the area 152 for ad(s), there is an area 153 for a number of popular photos related to Star Wars™. Area 153 is sub-divided into small sections, such as section 155. Each section, such as section 155, contains a photo related to Star Wars™. Above the area of popular photos, there is an “All” button 154. When the “All” button 154 is pressed, a page 170 to access all photos in the Star Wars™ site appear, as shown in FIG. 1F in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In page 170, the search box 101′, search button 102′, and the ad(s) area 152, that are similar to those on entry page 150, still exist. Under the search box 101′, there is an area 171 with buttons for photos under different categories. For example, the buttons of categories can include “Fan photos” 172, which allows access to photos uploaded by fans, “Popular” 173, which allows quick access to most popular photos, and “Official” 174, which allows access to photos uploaded from official source(s), such as from Lucasfilm Limited. The buttons of categories can further include “my photos” 175, which allows access to photos uploaded by User-1, “Favorites” 176, which allows access to favorite photos marked by User-1, and “contacts' photos 177, which allows access to photos uploaded and/or marked as favorites by other users, who are in User-1's contact list. Below the area 171, there is a field 178 for photos, which is divided into a number of areas, such as area 179. In each area, such as area 179, there is a photo, such as “photo 1” 180, and a title, such as “Title 1”, of the photo.

Below the field 178 for photos, there is an area 181 with links to access other pages of photos. For example, in area 181, there are links to different pages, such as links to pages 2, 3, 4, 5, previous page, next page, first page and last page, etc.

Going back to FIG. 1E, area 153 has many sections, such as section 155, of photos. When User-1 clicks on a photo section, such as section 155, a page 190 with photo appears, as shown in FIG. 1G in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, User-1 can also click on a photo, such as “photo 1” 180 of an area, such as area 179, in page 170 to access a photo. When User-1 clicks on “photo 1” 180, a page similar to page 190 with photo would appear.

Page 190 includes the search box 101 search button 102′, and the ad(s) area 152, that are similar to those on entry page 150. Below the search box, there is an area 191 that displays links to other photos, such as P-1, P-2, and P-3, that are related the photo 193 of this page. Photo 193 is the photo in either section 155 or area 179, which has been clicked by User-1. Next to the area 191, there is an area 192, which contains links, such as “Prev” for previous, and “Next” for next, to other pages of photos. At the center of page 190 is the photo 193, selected by User-1 Below the photo 193, there is a title field 194, which shows that the title of the photo 193 is “Yoda from episode 2”. Page 190 also includes a description field 195, which provide further description of the photo. Below the description field, there is an area 196 listing the user who posts (or uploads) the photo 193 and the date and time that photo 193 is posted. In one embodiment, area 196 includes a photo or an avatar of the user who posts photo 193. In the example here, the user who posts photo 193 is User-2. Further, page 190 includes a field 197 of the character of the photo. In this example, the character is Yoda. However, this field is optional, since not all photos are related to characters of Star Wars™. In addition, page 190 includes a field 198 of tags, which lists the tags of photo 193. In the example here, the tags for photo 193 are “episode 2”, and “Yoda”.

Below the field 198 of tags, there is a button 182 for adding tag(s) by User-1. There is also a “thumb-up” button 183 for the user, such as User-1, to push if he/she thinks positive about the photo. There can be a total number of users who voted “thumb-up” for the photo. In the example here, 7 users have voted “thumb-up” for photo 193. Next to the “thumb-up” button 183, there is a “thumb-down” button 184. Further, there could be a button 185 of “add to this world”, for users who have not signed up to be a member (or a user) of “The World of Star Wars™” to be become a member (or user). Users can push button 185 to become a member.

In one embodiment, there is an area 186 of comments on page 190. There is a box 187 that allows a user to enter comments. There is also a “post comment” button 188 to be pushed after the user enters the comments in box 187. In area 186 of comments, there also are a number of comments posted by different users. For example, comment 189 is posted by User-A. An avatar of User-A is shown, with a comment (comment A) posted by User-A, and the date and time the comment being posted are shown in area 186. Further, on page 190, there is an area 200 of featured fans, which shows the avatars of one or more fans of the current site. One of the fans can be placed at a more prominent spot with larger photo (or avatar) and name of the fan (or user) in area 200. In the example here, User-X takes the more prominent spot and two other fans are also featured, in area 200.

In addition to all the features described above, an area 201 of related photos can also exist on page 190. In the area 201 of related photos, photos (with links) related to photo 193 are displayed in sections, such as section 202 in area 201. When a user clicks on the photo, which is also a link, in section 202, a page similar to page 190 with the photo would appear. Photos related photo 193 are tagged with one or more tag terms of photo 193. Photo 193 is tagged with tag terms that include “episode 2” and “Yoda.” Therefore, any photo that is tagged with the term “episode 2” and/or “Yoda” can appear in area 201. If there are more photos than available sections, such as section 202 in area 201, links or buttons to other pages with additional photos can be available (not shown) for the user to click. Further, there can be an area 203 for related videos. Similar to related photos, related videos can appear in sections, such as section 204, in area 203. Related videos are videos tagged with at least one tag term of photo 193.

On page 190, there also can be an area 205 for shopping, where merchants display items on sale or links to web sites that carry merchandises. The merchandizes can be related to Star Wars™, Yoda, or other subjects that the merchants think a user, such as User-1, would be interested in. In the example here, Yoda statue and Star Wars™ DVD are for sale in area 205. In the example shown in FIG. 1G, the photos of the merchandises are shown next to the brief descriptions of the merchandizes.

In addition, on page 190, there could be an area 206 of sponsored links for paying merchants or advertisers to place ads with links to web sites that offers products and/or services. In one embodiment, the products and services displayed in the area 206 are related to photo 193 or to other subjects of Star Wars™. In the example shown in FIG. 1G, a DVD of “Episode 2”, and a toy of “2^(nd) episode Yoda” are for sale.

Going back to FIG. 1E, page 150 can also include an area 159 for featured photos, which are selected front all photos in the site. In one embodiment, the featured photos are all centered on a theme or subject, such as Yoda, Han Solo, or episode 2. The theme or subject can be chosen based on popularity, by an administrator of the site, or by a selected user (for example, someone who is an active user of the site). Alternatively, the featured photos can be selected based on popularity and recency (newness), which means the newness of the photo. In one embodiment, the featured photos in area 159 are selected from all photos of the site based on an algorithm and are selected automatically based on the algorithm. This automatic selection allows the site to be maintained with no or minimal human intervention. In the example shown in FIG. 1E, area 159 is divided into 4 sections, such as sections 159 _((I)), 159 _((II)), 159 _((III)), and 159 _((IV)), where 4 photos are placed in the 4 sections.

In one embodiment page 150 of FIG. 1E can also include an area 160 for featured video, which are selected from all videos. Similar to featured photos, the featured videos can be selected by human or can be automatically selected based on an algorithm established by the administrator(s) or builder(s) of the site. Again, automatic selection of featured videos allows the site to be maintained with no or minimal human intervention.

In one embodiment, page 150 can also include an area 161 for “Latest comments” by users. In this area, latest comments from users are posted. For example, a comment by User-O is posted in area 162 within area 161. The user who makes the comment, what the comment is for and when the comment was made are listed in area 162.

At the bottom of page 150, there could be areas of different subjects. For example, area 163 is for Star Wars™ movies. A number of links to Star Wars™ movies are listed, such as “A New Hope”, and “Return of the Jedi,” A user can click on the title and be presented with a page full of information, photos, videos, discussions and comments related to a Star Wars™ movie, such as “A New Hope” or “Return of the Jedi.” Similar to area 163, area 164 is for Star Wars™ games, area 165 is for Star Wars™ characters, and area 166 is for Star Wars™ television shows (TV). When a user click on one of the link, information related to the link would be presented in a web page.

The description above shows how a Worlds site looks like. The building and maintaining of such a site would be described below.

As described above, creating and maintaining an entertainment-based web site, such as the Star Wars™ site, are very time and money consuming. The interests and taste of online users change very rapidly; therefore, it is desirable to have an automatic system and method to create and to maintain such a site to keep the content fresh and relevant. The content can be refreshed by new content from the Internet and can be added by users of the site. In addition, active users can perform the function of moderators or administrators of some sections or areas of the site. For example, as discussed in FIG. 1E, active users can be awarded with privilege to determine key article in area 151, featured photos in area 159, and featured videos in area 160. Alternatively, key article in area 151, featured photos in area 159, and featured videos in area 160 can be determined (or chosen) based on popularity and recency. If the site is constructed by an automated system and method, and is designed to be maintained by algorithms with the assistance of site users, minimal administration from a non-user administrator(s) is required. Further, the vast content (or information) of the Internet, which are updated regularly, and content contributed by users of the site can be utilized to keep the site relevant and updated to users of the site.

FIG. 2A shows a system 210 for automatically creating a Worlds web site, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Although the description of system 210 is focused on creating a Worlds web site, the concept of the system can be used to create other types of web sites with subjects interesting to online users. System 210 includes a client system 211 for User-1, Internet 213, and a portal site 214. User-1 utilizes the client system 211 to interact with the system 214 of the portal site through Internet 213.

For example, User-1 can access entry pages, such as page 100, 120, 130, 140, 150, and 170, 190, and/or other pages that are offered by the portal site 214. The portal site 214 has a number of servers, such as a content server 219, which prepares content of pages, such as page 100, and a Worlds server 220, which prepares content of pages, such as pages 120, 130, 140, 150, 170, and 190, of a Worlds web site. The Worlds web site is a site within the portal site 214. Alternatively, the Worlds web site can reside outside the portal site 214. System 210 also includes a user profile server 221, which stores users' cookies and background information. The information in the user profile server 221 helps identify users and allows the content server 219 and the Worlds server 220 to provide content relevant to users, such as User-1. Further, system 210 has an ad server 222, which provides ads to content server 219 and Worlds server 220 to appear in web pages for users, such as User-1. Alternatively, there could be more than one Worlds servers, which are similar to Worlds server 220, to prepare content for other Worlds sites.

Worlds server 220 takes information from various servers, such as Server-1 215, Server-2 216, Server-3 217, and Server-N 218, connected to the Internet 213. The various servers can be any server on the Internet 213, as long as it provides information relevant to the Worlds web site created by Worlds server 220, Examples of servers that can provide information relevant to Worlds server 220 include, but not limited to, photo servers, such as Flickr, video servers, such as YouTube, music servers. Star Wars™ merchandise site, such as Lego, and the official Star Wars™ site (Starwars.com), etc.

When the subject (or theme) of the web site is determined, the design (or layout) of the web site should also be determine. For example, what types of information, such as photos, videos, music, etc., and what types of functionalities, such as discussion boards, blogs, user comments, etc., the site would offer. The design (layout) of the site determines the components of the storages and databases in the Worlds server 220. For example, if the layout of the site includes photos shown to users, then the Worlds server 220 for the site would have a photo storage.

FIG. 2B shows the components in the Worlds server 220, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. “Worlds” server 220 includes a search engine 228, which allows the Worlds server 220 to index content of web sites, such as Server-1 215, Server-2 216, Server-3, 217, and Server-N 214, connected to the Internet. The search engine 228 identifies content available on the Internet that are relevant to web site created in the Worlds server 220. Worlds server 220 also includes a content server 223, which generates web pages with content for users of the Worlds web site, such as “The World of Star Wars™” site. In one embodiment, Worlds server 220 has one or more photo storages, such as photo storage 224, which store photos related to the subjects (or themes) of the Worlds web sites, for example “Star Wars™.” The portal, such as Yahoo!, likely has a number of Worlds web sites under different themes (or subjects), such as Star Wars™, Indiana Jones, Wizard of Oz, etc. As mentioned above, alternatively content of different Worlds sites can reside on different servers. The photos for different Worlds web sites can be in the same photo storage (such as photo storage 224), where the databases in the storage organizes the photos for different Worlds web sites accordingly, or in different photos storages, where each storage holds photos for a particular Worlds web site.

Similar to photo storage 224, the Worlds server 220 also has one or more storages for video, such as video storage 225, which store videos for Worlds web sites. Similar to the photo storage 224, the videos for different Worlds web sites can be in the same video storage (such as video storage 225), where the databases in the storage organizes the videos for different Worlds web sites accordingly, or in different videos storages, where each storage holds videos for a particular Worlds web site. Further, the Worlds server 220 can have one or more storages for discussion boards and blogs, such as discussion and blog storage 226, which store discussion threads of various discussion boards and blogs. In addition, the Worlds server 220 can have one or more storages for main characters in Star Wars™, such as character storage 227, which stores descriptions and information of key characters of Star Wars™. For example, description and information related to Yoda and Han Solo can be stored in the character storage 227. If the Worlds web site is not related to a movie, the character storage 227 can be renamed for key player storage. For example, a Worlds site for a particular college basketball team would have a key player storage 227 that stores information or description about key players of the team for different years. Other types of information, such as music, comments, etc., can also be stored in various storages, such as information storage 229, in the Worlds server 220. In one embodiment, the information stored in the information storage 229 is text-based information, which is related to the subject of the site (Star Wars™). In one embodiment, the Worlds server 220 includes a music storage 244, which stores music files related to the subject of Star Wars™. The Worlds server 220 can also include a member info storage 281, which stores information related to members (or users) of the site. Photos and/or avatars of the users can be stored here or be stored in the photo storage 224.

The search engine 228 identifies content related to the search terms from the Internet to be placed into different storages, such as storages 224, 225, 226, 227, 229, and 244 of Worlds server 220. The placement of different types of files in different storages is according to file types. For example, well known photo file formats include, but not limited to, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), etc. Similarly, videos and music pieces also have their own file formats. The system can be set up to place files into different storages according to their formats. For example, photo files are placed in photo storage 224, and video files are placed in video storage 225, etc. In one embodiment, files can be placed in different storages according to file formats and/or sources of files. For example, files from YouTube.com are most likely to be videos and they are placed in video storage(s). In another embodiment, text-based content (or information, or files) found on Internet sites can be organized according to the types of the information to be placed in different storages. For example, if character description of characters, such as Yoda, is identified by the search engine 228 and its source becomes a feed with such information, the character description can be auto-populated in the character storage 227. Alternatively, some text-based and non-text-based information might require editorial and/or user-generated inputs.

Some storages, such as discussion and blog storage 226, might not be populated with content from the Internet. Instead, such storage, e.g. discussion and blog storage 226, are populated by content created by users of the site. For example, users choose topics for the discussion boards and blogs after the site is launched.

The content server 223 interact with various storages, such as storages 224, 225, 226, 227, and 229, in the Worlds server 220 to prepare web pages, such as pages 150, 170, and 190 discussed above, requested by users, such as User-1.

As discussed above, information that is interesting to users changes rapidly. It's very expansive to set up and maintain a site by dedicated personnel. Therefore, it's desirable to have an automated system and method to set up and maintain the Worlds site. The system is discussed above in FIGS. 2A and 2B. To set up the Worlds site, such as “The World of Star Wars™” site (or the “Star Wars™” site), a system administrator(s) can enter a number of key words or phrases to search for content (or information) on a number of web sites. For example, in setting up the Star Wars™ site, key words or phrases, such as Star Wars™, Darth Vader, Yoda, Han Solo, R2D2, C3PO, Princess Leia, etc, can be entered. The web sites to search for content can be any web sites that store information relevant to Star Wars™. For example, web sites, such as Flickr.com, could be searched for photos related to Star Wars™, and web sites, such as YouTube.com, could be searched for videos related to Star Wars™, in addition, the official “Starwars.com” site also have information regarding key characters of Star Wars™, which can be searched or downloaded. Some of these sites might allow their content to be downloaded (or embedded). Other sites might only allow posting links that point to content on their sites. Therefore, the storages mentioned above can store links to contents. For example, content from dig.com and del.icio.us often points to these two sites. Further, Yahoo!, the company that creates the Star Wars™ site, could enter a partnership with one of the sites that have content relevant to Star Wars™, such as Starwars.com. With the partnership, information sharing would be guided by the contract of the partnership.

FIG. 2C shows a form 230 that can be used by an administrator(s) to create a web site based on a subject (or a theme), in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The subjects of the web site can be anything, as long as there are Internet users interesting in the subjects. For example, the subjects can be related to entertainment, sports, and music, etc. The number of Internet users interesting in the subjects that is considered to be sufficient can be determined by the owner(s) or sponsor(s) of such a site. For example, Yahoo! can determine that there are enough Internet users interested in Star Wars™ and creating “The World of Star Wars™” site would drive traffic to Yahoo! site and bring advertising businesses to Yahoo!.

If the theme (or subject) of the site is “Star Wars™,” the administrator(s) can use the form 230 to fill out the theme (or subject) of the site being created. In the example in FIG. 2C, the administrator enters “Star Wars™” in box 231. The administrator also enters key words or phrases in boxes, 231, 232, 233, to 234 (box M). For example, Darth Vader, Yoda, Han Solo, etc. The number (M) of boxes to enter search keywords, which can be words or phrases, can be as low as 1 and as high as possible, such as 100 or more. An example of number for M is 20. Other numbers, such as 30, or 40, are also possible. The number for M depends on the amount of time and hardware allocated for processing the feeds. With higher number of M, more time and more hardware are needed for processing the data related to the search keywords. The administrator can also use the form 230 to fill out the uniform resource locators (URLs) of the web sites that could have content relevant to the site being created. In the example shown in FIG. 2C, the administrator enters URLs, such as “starwars.com” in box 236, “youtube.com” in box 237, “flickr.com” in box 238, and URLs of other web sites in other boxes (not shown), such as box 239 (box O). The number (O) of boxes to enter web sites for searching relevant content can be as low as 1 and as high as possible, such as 100 or more. An example of number for O is 20. Other numbers, such as 30, or 40, are also possible. The number for O depends on the amount of time and hardware allocated for processing the feeds. With higher number of O, more time and more hardware are needed for processing the data on higher number of web sites.

In one embodiment, the administrator can also select a layout plan for the web site from a list of layout selections. The layouts in the list of layout selection are pre-designed. A layout of a web site determines how the web pages look like when users of the web site request pages from the site, and what types of information and functionalities are offered to the users of the site. In one embodiment, the layout of the site determines the design of storages and databases of the site. In the example shown in FIG. 2C, the administrator chooses Layout-1 240 over Layout-2 241, and Layout-3 242. It is assumed that the administrator knows the design of layout-1 240, layout-2 241, and layout-3 242. After all information needed to create the site Is entered, the administrator can push a button 243 to create the site. Once the button is pushed, the Worlds server 220 would start collecting content from the web sites identified. The “Star Wars™” web site can be created and be populated with the content retrieved from the web sites identified. Alternatively, the content search can happen first and the layout plan can be selected after initial content searched is performed.

After the web site is created and launched, and users start to use the site, users can contribute content to the site by participating in the discussion boards and blogs. In addition, users can also upload files, such as photo files and videos files, to the site to share with other users. Users can also help “tag” the content of the web site to make content of the site more searchable. For example, a user who sees a “Yoda” picture could add the tag “jedi” to indicate that Yoda is a Jedi. This allows the picture for photo) to be associated with the term “jedi,” and the photo to be searched by entering the term “jedi,” into the search engine of the web site. The original tagging of the photo might not include the term “jedi”. The user's adding (or creation) of the tag term “jedi” provides addition metadata to the photo. With the participation of users, the content of the web site can increase rapidly and be continuously updated. Users' participation is very important for such a site. Users' knowledge of content in the site can help the site be more interesting, updated, and more searchable.

In one embodiment, users' activities affect information displayed in the site. As discussed above, the most popular site content, such as photos, videos, and discussion boards, are highlighted in more prominent places on the web pages of the web site. For example, the lead article in area 151, featured photos in area 159, and featured videos in area 160 can be selected by users who are most active on the site, i.e. by users who make a lot of comments, upload many photos and videos, etc. Of course, the lead article in area 151, featured photos in area 159, and featured videos in area 160 can also be selected based on other algorithms. Another example is the latest comment by users in area 161 of FIG. 1E. Showing users' inputs, comments, and activities and allowing users' activities and involvement in the site to affect site content would encourage users to be more involved in the site, would increase traffic to the site and would make users more loyal to the site.

The photos, videos, and other types of information that are found relevant to the main subject of Star Wars™ can be down-loaded to the Star Wars™ site described here and be placed in the various storages, such as storages 224, 225, 226, 227, and 229, described above. Of course, content is only down-loaded only legally and/or with approval. In addition, the content of the site, such as photos, videos, etc., that are entered and/or uploaded by the users are also stored in the various storages, such as storages 224, 225, 226, 227, and 229, described above. The content contributed by the users become content of the site and can be viewed and commented by all users of the site.

As mentioned above, web pages of the web site, such as pages 150, 170, and 190, have search boxes that allow users to search for content in the web site. The search engine 228 of Worlds server 228 also indexes content of “The World of Star Wars™” web site created by and in the Worlds server 220. The search index created by the search engine 228 allows users of the site to search for content on the web sites. Searching for content with text, such as description of characters, discussion boards, and blogs, is relatively straightforward, since the text of such content is searchable. When users enter keywords, content with text that contains the keywords would be identified. However, non-text-based content of the site, such as photos, and music, etc., need to be tagged with words or phrases to allow (or enable) searching. The tags for non-text-based fifes, such as photos, videos and music pieces, can come from the sources of these files. For example, photos at Flickr.com are often tagged. Many web sites that store non-text-based files, such as photos, videos, and music, set up their systems to allow users to tag the files. For example, the tags can be entered by the people who upload the photo files to Flickr.com. Alternatively, titles and description of non-text-based files, such as photos, videos, and music pieces, etc., are text-based and can be considered as tags too. The original tags can be imported along with the photo files and be downloaded to the photo storage(s) 224 in the Worlds server 220 along with the photos. These user tags are also very valuable and can be stored to enable searching of the non-text-based files.

FIG. 2D shows a photo database 250 in the photo storage 224 of FIG. 2B, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Photo database 250 stores photo files, which can be downloaded from the Internet or uploaded by users of the Star Wars™ site. Photo database 250 has an identification (ID) column 251, which stores IDs of photo files, a description column 254, which stores a brief description of the photo file, a tag column 255, which stores tags related to the photo files, and a photo fife column 256, which stores the photo files. In one embodiment, each ID in the ID column 251 is made up of two sets of identifications, source ID 252 and photo ID 253. Source ID 252 indicates the source of the photo file. For example, if the photo file, such as photofile1 257, is downloaded from a site, such as Flickr.com. The source ID 252 is an ID, which is “xxxxx” in the current example, assigned by the Star Wars™ site to Flickr.com. Yahoo! can assign a unique ID to each external site (or source site). If the photo is uploaded by a user, the unique ID of the user, which is given by Yahoo!, can be used. The photo ID 253 is an ID associated with the photo file 257, hi one embodiment, the photo ID is taken from the source site, such as Flickr.com. Normally, each photo file has an ID assigned. If an ID is not associated with a photo file, a title and/or a post-date can be used to identify the photo. If the photo file is uploaded by a user, Yahoo! can assign an ID to the photo file.

In the current example, the photo ID of photo file 257 is “yyyyy,” which can be an ID that comes with the photo from the downloading site and is an ID associated with the photo on the downloading site. If the photo is uploaded to the web site by a user, the photo ID can be an ID associated with the photo or be assigned by the web site or by the user. The source ID 252 and photo ID 253 can be made up of numbers, alphabets, or a combination of both. The combined source ID 252 and photo ID 253 of each photo file makes a unique ID for the photo file. The unique ID of each photo file allows the photo file to be uniquely identified. When the search engine of Star Wars™ site performs searches of photo files in the identified sites, even if the photo IDs of two different photo files from two different sites are the same, the IDs of these two photos would be different due to different source IDs assigned to different sites.

The description column 254 stores description of the photo file. For example, the description of photo file 257 is “Yoda.” Typically, there is a description (or title) associated with a photo. If the photo is downloaded from another site, the description (or title) can come with the photo. If the photo is uploaded by the user, the user can enter a description (or title) for the photo. In addition, the tags for photo file 257 are “yoda,” and “episode 2.” Both the term “yoda” and the term “episode 2” help describe the photo 257. When a user conducts a search on the web site using a search term that matches one of the tags of the photo, the photo would be identified. Alternatively, the search term does not need to match the full tag term. Matching of partial term would allow the identification of the photo. For example, when a user types in “episode 1” as a search term, photo file 257 could be identified, since photo file 257 has a tag term “episode 2” that has a word “episode” matching part of the search terra “episode 3.” Since the match is not exact, photo file 257 would appear below other photos, videos, or other types of files that have tags matching better (or closer) to “episode 3.” Table 250 is filled with various photo files with corresponding IDs, descriptions, tags, and photo files.

Similar to a photo database 250, the video storage 225 can also has video databases organized in a manner similar to the photo database 250. The video files in the video database can also have unique IDs based on a combination of source IDs and video IDs. Any content files that are downloaded can be stored in the manner described above for FIG. 2D. Unique IDs of the downloaded files also allow the downloaded files to be uniquely stored in the databases and to avoid downloading a file multiple times. For example, search engine 228 indexes the web sites for content continuously. A photo file that has been indexed and downloaded would not be downloaded again, since the unique ID of photo file is stored in the database. Before the server 220 downloads a file, server 220 would check the ID of the file with IDs of files stored in the system. If the ID already exists in the system, server 220 would not download the file again.

The tags associated with photos, videos, music, and other types of files stored on the Star Wars™ site allow these non-text-based files to be searchable by users of the site. Text-based files can also be tagged. Tagging of text-based files can also assist searching. Usually, the tags of text-based files are given higher weights than the text in the text-based files. As mentioned above in box 182 of FIG. 1G, tags can also be added by users of the current Star Wars™ site. To avoid some users abusing the tagging function to enter offensive tags and/or incorrect tags, the system can be set up with algorithms to allow some users with good track records (or approved users) with unlimited tagging capability, while allowing new users and/or un-proven users limited tagging capability. For example, the tagging by un-proven users is only approved when more than one users tag the item with the same terms. The tagged terms can also be first checked to screen out offensive terms by a checking tool.

FIG. 2E shows a search result page 260 for the search term “yoda,” in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Page 260 is returned when a user, such as User-1, enters the term “yoda” in the search box 101′ of FIG. 1E, 1F, or 1G. The result page 260 contains a number of results that include video(s), photo(s), and character tagged with the term “yoda”, and text containing the term “yoda.” In the example shown in the result page 260, the search results include two videos 261, 262, three photos 263, 264, 265, an answer 266 to a question related to “yoda”, and a character description 267 of the character “Yoda” in Star Wars™. Each video (261 or 262) contains tags and source of the video. For example, video 261 is tagged with the term “yoda”, while video 262 is tagged with terms including “yoda”, and “star wars,” etc. Videos 261 and 262 are both from “YouTube.com.” Similar to videos, photos 263, 264, and 265 are also tagged and the sources of the photos are also listed. In one embodiment, brief descriptions (not shown) for videos (261, 262), and photos (263, 264, and 265) are included.

The answer 266 has a link 268, which can be clicked to display the full question and answers for the question. The answer 226 is listed in the search result because the question for the answer 266 is related to “yoda.” In the example shown in FIG. 2E, the latest posting date and time for an answer to the question in answer 266 is listed. Below the posting date and time, the question of “What race is Yoda” is listed. Below the question, the tag(s) for the answer 266 is listed to be “yoda.” The character description 267 includes the character name “Yoda,” and a description of character “Yoda.” The tags for the character are also included.

Below the research results, there are additional pages, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, next, previous, first, and last, containing search results of “yoda”. In one embodiment, at the bottom of the result page 260, an area 269 with a list of search results related to “yoda” found from the Internet (or Web) is included. For fans that are enthusiastic about Star Wars™, the searching capability on the Star Wars™ site allows them to find the things, such as photos, videos, discussions, etc., related to Star Wars™. On the right side of page 260, there could be an ad area 152 and an area 270 listing sponsored links related to the search term “yoda.” In area 270 of FIG. 2E, an exemplary link 271 with “Star Wars™ Yoda of Amazon,” and an exemplary link 272 with “Yoda at eBay” are shown. Site owner of “The World of Star Wars™,” such as Yahoo!, can make financial gains from the ads and sponsored links displayed in area 152 and area 271. Advertisers often pay to display sponsored links (or results) based on matching keywords, which can be words or phrases.

In addition to enabling search, tags of objects, such as photos, videos, music pieces, etc., in databases in the web site, tags can also be used to associate different objects in the databases. For example, in the Star Wars™ site, there is a Star Wars™ character, Darth Vader, as shown in area 165 of FIG. 1E. The character of Darth Vader includes title and a description of the character, and has an ID “123666” in the database of characters, which can be stored in information storage 229. In one embodiment, the first three digital numbers “123” of ID “123666” represents the source of the character, which can be an Internet site, a user of the site, or an editor of the site. The next three digital number “666” of ID “123666” represent character ID of Darth Vader. The character of Darth Vader could be tagged with a number of terms, such as “Darth Vader,” “Sith Lord,” “Anakin Skywalker,” and “Dark side,” etc. As mentioned above, the web site allows users to tag objects, including text-based objects (such as characters), and non-text-based objects (such as photos, videos, and music pieces).

Similar to the character of Darth Vader being tagged with a number of terms, a photo containing an image of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber could be tagged with a number of terms, such as “Darth Vader,” “Episode 2,” “lightsaber,” “Sith,” and “anakin,” etc. Both the character of Darth Vader and the photo containing the image of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber described above are related to Darth Vader. The photo described above mainly contains an image of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber; therefore, the photo is very much related to the character of Darth Vader. In contrast, if the photo contains an image of a number of Star Wars™ characters, including the character Darth Vader, standing next one another at a Star Wars™ convention, the photo is tagged with “Darth Vader” because Darth Vader is in the photo, but the whole photo is overall more related to Star Wars™ and Star Wars™ convention than the character Darth Vader. If a number of users view the photo with the image of a number of Star Wars™ characters at a Star Wars™ convention, they would likely tag the photo with terms including: Star Wars™, convention, Darth Vader, Yoda, Han Solo, Las Vegas (the city of the convention), 2007 (the year of the convention), etc. More users would tag the photo with Star Wars™ than Darth Vader. Users' common sense or judgment can be utilized to determine the content of objects in the databases of the web site through tagging. If an object, such as a photo, is more related to Darth Vader, a higher number of users and/or a higher percentage of users who tag the object would tag it with “Darth Vader.” The users might tag the photo with other terms, such as “lightsaber,” “anakin,” or “anakin skywalker,” but since the photo is mainly of Darth Vader, most users who enter tags would tag it with “Darth Vader.”

The system can be set up to allow users of the system to enter tags for objects, which could be text-based or non-text-based. For example, the button 182 of adding tags in FIG. 1G can be used. Users can also be encouraged to enter tags. To encourage users to add tags to the objects according to their impression and not be influence by the existing tags, the existing tags can be hidden or the users can be informed to enter tags by not worrying about or not considering the existing tags. Informing users to enter tags without considering the existing tags encourages users to add tag terms regardless of existing tag terms shown in the field 198 of tags of FIG. 1G. Databases can be set up to track the number of times a certain tag term is entered by users. For example, a database storing the tag terms for a photo of the character Darth Vader holding a lightsaber can store different tags and number of users entering the different tags for the photo. FIG. 3A shows a table 300 (or a database) storing lags for photos, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In table 300 of FIG. 3A, there is a column 301 of photo ID, an optional column 302 of photo description, a column 303 of different tag terms (or tags) for the photo, a column 304 of the number of users for each tag term, and a column 305 of percentage (%) of users who tag the photo with a particular tag term. The column 302 of photo description is optional because some photos are downloaded or uploaded without a description of the photo.

The photo of the character Darth Vader described above has a photo ID “456888”. The photo does not have a description. The tag terms entered by users for the photo include “Darth Vader,” “lightsaber,” “sith lord,” “cloak,” “dark side,” and “anakin skywalker,” etc. FIG. 3A shows the number and percentage of users entering each tag term. According to FIG. 3A, 12 users or 50.0% of users enter the tag term “Darth Vader” for the photo, and 4 users or 16.6% of users enter the tag terms “sith lord” and “anakin skywalker” for the photo. All other tag terms receive fewer numbers or lower percentages of users.

If a relatively high number and/or a relatively high percentage of users entering lag terms for a photo consider the photo should be tagged with one or more particular tag terms, the photo can be considered to be perceived by most users to be associated with the one or more tag terms. In the example in FIG. 3A, 12 users or 50% users who enter tag terms (or tags) for the photo consider the photo is associated with “Darth Vader.” Although the photo shows Darth Vader holding a lightsaber, but the main focus of the photo is Darth Vader; therefore, only 2 users or 8.3% of users tag the photo with “lightsaber,” Users' perception of the photo is reflected in the tag terms they chose. In the example of FIG. 3A, the photo can be considered to be mainly associated with “Darth Vader.”

When an object, such as a photo, in the databases of the web site is tagged with a number of tag terms. This object is associated with each of these tag terms, since at least one user considers the object is associated with the tag term. This type of association can be considered as a “soft” association, which means the object is somewhat related to the tag terms entered by users for the object. For example, the photo of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber can be considered to have “soft” association with tag terms, such as “Darth Vader,” “lightsaber,” etc., as shown in FIG. 3A. Among the tag terms associated with, the photo, “Darth Vader,” “Sith Lord,” and “anakin skywalker” are considered to be more associated with the photo than other tag terms. The photo is especially more associated with “Darth Vader,” since 12 users or 50% of users consider the photo is associated with “Darth Vader.” When an object's association with a tag term passes a threshold, such as a certain number of users or a certain percentage of users considering the tag term being associated with the object, the object can be considered to have a “hard” association with the tag term. A “hard” association is a definite relationship that can be determined by a human content producer or administrator. For example, a human content producer or administrator can determine that an object, such as a photo, in the web site is related a subject or title, such as Yoda. The human content producer or administrator can define this hard association through the content management system, such as by using a database to relate the object to the title or subject.

In the example described above, the threshold for hard association could be 7 users or 30% of users fagging the object. If greater than or equal to 7 users or 30% users who tag the object (the photo) enter a particular tag term, the entered tag term is considered to have a “hard” association with the object (in this case, the photo). In the example of FIG. 3A, the photo has a hard association with the tag term “Darth Vader,” since 12 users and 50% users, which exceed the threshold(s), tag the photo with “Darth Vader.” The threshold limit can be a number of users or a percentage of users who tag the object, or a combination of a number of users and a percentage of users, hi other word, the hard association is rate-based, such as user tagging rate (or user tagging frequency, or number of users who enters the tag term), and percentage of users tagging, etc. The limit (or criteria) of hard association can be determined by the administrator of the site, the content manager of the site or anyone assigned to manage the content. For some objects that are tagged by few users, the percentage threshold would make more sense, since only limited number of users tag the object. Alternatively, the threshold can be a number of users or a percentage of users who tag the object over a certain period. For example, the threshold can be 40% of users who tag the object over a week or a month, etc. In one embodiment, different objects can have different thresholds since some objects require higher or lower thresholds. In one embodiment, a particular type of objects, such as photo, have a defined threshold. For example, the threshold for all photos are the same. Defining a single threshold for a particular type of objects, such as photos or videos, or music pieces, simplifies the threshold defining process (or algorithm).

As mentioned above, a “hard” association is a definite relationship that can be determined by a human content producer and the association is made through the content management system. The photo with photo ID 456888 is determined to have a “hard” association with the tag term “Darth Vader,” since the “soft” association passes a threshold. In one embodiment, this hard association is defined in a database. FIG. 3B shows a table 310 created for objects passing the “hard” association criteria with different tag terms, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3B, there are a number of objects with associated tag terms, such as row 313 with an object ID 456888 and associated “Darth Vader” tag term, row 314 with an object ID 234777 and associated “Yoda” tag term, and row 315 with an object ID 789333 and associated “Darth Vader” tag term. As mentioned above, the object ID 456888 is for the photo (an object in the database) of an image of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber. The other object with object ID 789333 that also has a “hard” association with the same tag term, “Darth Vader” as the object with object ID 456888 is an object of character of Darth Vader, which describes the characteristics and/or background of Darth Vader. Since both the object with ID 456888 (the photo) and the object with ID 789333 (the Darth Vader character) have a “association” with the tag term “Darth Vader,” these two objects can be considered to also have a “hard” association. Data in FIG. 38 can be arranged to show another “hard” association as shown in Table 320 of FIG. 3C, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Table 320 of FIG. 3C has a column 321 of object (I) ID for object (I), a column 322 of object (II) ID for object (II), and an optional column 323 of tag term, which establishes a “hard” association between object (I) and object (II). In the example of FIG. 3C, object (I) (the photo with Darth Vader holding lightsaber) with an object (I) ID of 456888 has a “hard” association with object (II) (the character of Darth Vader) with an object (II) ID of 789333, as shown in row 324. These two objects establish a “hard” association because they both have a hard association with the tag term “Darth Vader”. Similarly, object (I) with an object (I) ID 234777 and object (II) with an object (II) ID 32911.1 have a hard association because they both have a hard association with the tag term Yoda, as shown in row 325. In Table 320, the object with object ID of 456888 also has a hard association with another object with ID 112444 because they both have a hard association with the tag term Darth Vader, as shown in row 326. An objection can have a hard association with more than one objects. Alternatively, a database for storing different objects having hard associations can have more than two columns of objects, which allows more than two objects to be associated by a common tag term. For example, row 326 and row 324 can be combined into one row by the insertion of an additional column for object, such as object (III).

When an object has a hard association with a tag term, it means that many users think the object is strongly associated with the tag term or the tag term can mostly define or describe the content of the object. For example, many users consider the photo with the image of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber is strongly associated with the term “Darth Vader” and tag the photo with “Darth Vader.” This means that when these users saw the photo, they thought about “Darth Vader.” In one embodiment, the objects that have “hard” associations with certain tag terms can be placed in more prominent positions on the web site, such as the area 159 for featured photos and area 160 for featured video of FIG. 1E. As mentioned above in FIG. 1E, page 150 can include an area 159 for featured photos, which are selected from all photos in the site. Similarly, FIG. 1E can also include an area 160 for featured video, which are also selected from all videos. As described above, the featured photos cab be all centered on a theme or subject, such as Yoda, or Darth Vader, etc. The theme or subject can be chosen based on popularity, by an administrator of the site, or by a selected user (for example, someone who is an active user of the site). The featured photos can be selected based on popularity and recency (newness), which means the newness of the photo. Alternatively, the featured photos can be photos with “hard” association with the theme. For example, if the theme of the featured photos is “Darth Vader,” displaying the photo that has a hard association with the tag term “Darth Vader” would make sense, since many users consider the photo is associated with “Darth Vader,” Of course, the selection of photos to display in the featured photo area 159 can be based on a requirement that include the photos having a “hard” association with the tag term “Darth Vader” and meeting a threshold of popularity. In another embodiment, a recency requirement can also be added to the selection algorithm for selecting featured photos (or videos, etc.).

As mentioned above, two or more objects can have a “hard” association because they have a hard association with a tag term. When one of these objects, such as object-A, that have a hard association with a tag term is opened (or displayed) on a web page, the other objects that have a hard association with the object (object-A) can be identified on the web page. FIG. 3D shows a web page 330 including a photo 331 of Darth Vader, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The web page 330 appears after User-1 clicks on the section 159(I) in area 159 of FIG. 1E, which contains a photo of Darth Vader holding a lightsaber mentioned above (with object ID 456888). The photo in section 159(I) is enlarged and displayed in an area 331 in FIG. 3D. Under the photo, there is a description of the photo, “Darth Vader.” Below the description of the photo, there are a number of links to objects that have a hard association with the photo in area 331. For example, one of the links is link 333, which connects to the object of Darth Vader character, which has an objection ID of 789333 in FIGS. 3B and 3C. When User-1 clicks on the link 333, a web page describing the Darth Vader character would appear. The Darth Vader photo in the area 331 could have a hard association with more than one object. For example, it could have a hard association with a Darth Vader video, which has an object ID of 112444 as shown in FIG. 3C and can be accessed through link 334. More links to objects having a hard association with the photo in area 331 can be listed below link 334. Other information related to the photo of area 331 can be displayed in the information field 335 below. The information field 335 can be sub-divided into a number of fields in a manner similar to FIG. 1G, which also display a photo in field 193. On the right side of the web page 330, there could be one or more fields of advertisements and contents, which could be similar to the fields 152, 201, 203, 205, and 206 of FIG. 1G.

FIG. 3E shows a process flow 340 for automatically creating a site, such as the Star Wars™ site discussed above, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. At operation 341, a subject of a site is selected (or determined). For example, the subject of the site can be “Star Wars™.” At operation 342, a list of search terms related to the subject of the site is entered to a form created to search for content available on the Internet. For example, the list of search terms entered can be “Darth Vader,” “Yoda,”, and “Han Solo,” etc, as listed in FIG. 2C. At operation 343, a list of sites on the Internet is entered to determine which sites for a search engine of the system to search for content relevant to the site. The list of sites will be searched for content related to the search terms entered at operation 342 and the subject determined at operation 341. At operation 344, a layout for the site is selected. Different types of sites might need different types of layout designs of the sites. For example, a fan site related to a particular sport or a particular athlete can be different form a fan for a particular movie(s). The layout (or design) of the site determines what types of content and functionalities are offered to the site users. For example, the layout determines whether the site will display photos, videos, and music, and also what types of functionalities, such as discussion boards, blogs, and user comments, are offered. Once the layout is determine, the search for content for the site can be initiated at operation 345. Alternatively, the content search can occur before the layout is determined. At operation 346, the content collected from these selected sites on the Internet are used to populate the databases of the site (or populate the content of the site) to create the site. After the databases of the site are sufficient populated, at operation 347, the new site is launched and becomes accessible by users. Once users start to use the site, users would contribute content to the site by uploading files, joining discussion, and entering texts in blogs. At operation 348, the content contributed by users is entered by the system to update content of the site. At the same time the users are adding content to the site, the search engine for the site continues to search for new content available on the Internet. The administrator can update search terms and search sites for content for the site. For example, a new Internet site might be chosen to search for content. At an optional operation 349, the search terms and search sites in the form(s) used operation 342 and 343 are updated by the administrator. This step is optional because the administrator does not need to update the search terms and search sites.

FIG. 3F shows a process flow 350 for establishing hard associations for objects and displaying objects with hard associations, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. At operation 351, a criteria for establishing hard associations of objects in the web sites with tag terms for these objects is determined. A person responsible for these objects, which are contents and data of the web site, can determine the criteria. At operation 352, the data in databases of the web site are processed to identify objects and associated tag terms that pass the hard association criteria. At operation 353, one or more databases to store correlated objects and tag terms that have passed the hard association criteria. At operation 354, the data in the one or more databases created at operation 353 are processed to identify objects that share the same tag terms. At operation 355, one or more databases to store correlated objects sharing the same tag terms that are identified at operation 354 are created.

At operation 356, more weight (or priority) is assigned to objects having hard associations with tag terms during selection of an object for displaying on a web page. The display location can be prominent or regular. In embodiment, the display location is prominent. In one embodiment, the selection criteria is related to a tag term. Objects tagged with the tag term can be selected. When an object is assigned with more weight, the object is more likely to be selected. In one embodiment, the weights assigned to objects passing the hard association criteria correlate to the percentage of users tagging the objects with the correlated tag terms. Using the example in FIG. 3A, the object with object ID 456888 has a weight correlating to 50% of users tagging the object with Darth Vader. When objects related to Darth Vader are searched for displaying in a prominent area of a web page, the object with object ID 456888 with 50% tagging rate would be selected over another object having a hard association with Darth Vader with a 33% tagging rate, since the selected is weighted towards 50%. In another embodiment, weights assigned to objects correlate to the percentages of users tagging the tag terms, regardless of whether the objects pass the hard association criteria with different tag terms. Using the example of FIG. 3A, not only the object with object ID 456888 is weighted for the tag term Darth Vader (due to hard association), the object is also weighted for other tag terms, such as lightsaber, and sith lord etc, even other tag terms do not have high enough tagging rate to pass the hard association criteria. The user tagging rates, such as 8.3% for “lightsaber,” and 16.6% for “Sith Lord,” are used for weighting during object selection.

As mentioned above, a hard association between an object and a tag term, and between two objects can also be assigned by a system administrator or a content producer. The concept of assigning more weight for objects having hard associations can also apply to objects whose hard associations are determined by a human, such as an administrator or a producer.

At operation 357, an object that has a hard association with a tag term and is selected by the selection process described in operation 356 to display in a prominent location of the web page is displayed on the web page. At an optional operation 358, a link to another object that has a hard association with the object of operation 357 is displayed on the web page along with the object of operation 357. Operation 358 only occurs, if there is another object that has a hard association with the object of operation 357. More than one links to other objects that has hard associations with the object of operation 357 can be displayed if there more than one objects having hard association with the object of operation 357.

FIG. 4A shows the components in the Worlds server 220′, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 2B, worlds server 220′ has all the component of the Worlds server 220 of FIG. 2B. In addition, Worlds server 220′ has a server 407 with algorithm to allow user tags, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The server 407 includes an algorithm that generate web pages to collect tag terms entered by users and to receive tag terms entered by users for different objects in the web site.

Further, Worlds server 220′ has a server 400 that stores databases of hard association records, such as the databases (or tables) of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, and weightings of objects. In one embodiment, Worlds server 220′ also has a server 405 storing algorithm for hard association and weighting for different objects in the web site. The algorithms in the server 405 are used to generate databases of hard association and weighting of objects in the web site. FIG. 4B shows the different databases (or tables) in server 400, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. For example, server 400 has a database 401 for objects having hard associations with tag terms, a database 402 for objects having hard associations through common tag terms, a database 403 of weights for objects having hard associations with tag terms, and other databases 404. The different databases in server 400 are generated and used to assist selection of objects to be display in prominent locations in web pages of the web site, such as areas 159, and 160 of FIG. 1E, and area 193 of FIG. 1G. In addition, links for objects with hard associations with other objects can be displayed when the associated objects are displayed, such as links 333, and 334 of FIG. 3D.

Creating hard association of objects with tag terms and with other objects help to bring the objects are more clearly associated with certain tag terms from the user's perspective to be brought into prominent locations in the web pages of the web sites. Selecting objects with hard association to display in prominent locations of web pages of the web site over objects without hard association could increase the confidence of users of the content and quality of the web site.

The web site created is supposed be maintained with minimal resources, such as by system administrators. The home page of the web site, such as page 150 of FIG. 1E, is designed to present information that is most updated and most popular to users. In the beginning of constructing of the web site, when no or few users have accessed the web site, the administrator can select the lead article in area 151, a few videos in area 159, and photos in area 160 of page 150. Alternatively, the system can be set up to populate these fields in the beginning by an algorithm, such as placing most updated article, videos, and photos in these fields. In another embodiment, these fields can be populated by article, videos, and photos that are most popular to the Internet, users. The popularities of articles, videos, photos, and other types of files available on the Internet are usually known. Once users have used the site, users of the site can have more influence to the content in these fields. For example, these fields, 151, 159, and 160, can be populated by articles, videos, and photos, respectively, based on recency (newness) and popularity of the users of the site. Recency of a file reflects how new the file is. Users can be more interested in latest data. Alternatively, active contributors or users of the site can be enlisted to administer the site. For example, the most active contributors) can be enlisted to select lead article, feature photos, or feature videos, etc.

Similarly, the “latest comments” field 160 can be populated based on recency, since field 160 displays “latest” comments. The various fields and areas on web pages of the site can be populated by content based on algorithms set up by the system creator(s), or system administrator(s). The system administrator can always interview to take down inappropriate content or to remove offensive users. The site can include features to allow users to report inappropriate users or inappropriate user activities on the site. However, the goal is to have the site almost automatically run with limited involvement of paid personnel Users' contribution of content and interaction with the site keep the content of the web site updated, fresh and interesting. The site is “alive” with users' inputs. In addition, the search engine for the site continues to search for content from the relevant web sites on the Internet to keep the content of the site fresh and updated.

Such a site that is created by an automatic system and method reduces the time and money needed to create and maintain the site. In addition, using the fresh content available on the Internet, content contributed by the users, and inputs (such as discussion, tagging, etc.) from the users, the site can capture information that is most relevant and interesting to the users.

Although the exemplary web site (“The World of Star Wars™” site) discussed above resides in a portal (Yahoo!), web sites created and maintained in the manner described above does not need to be part of a portal. Web sites created and maintained in the manner above can be independent sites. Further the concept of hard association can be used to in any site that allow users to tag objects in the site and to use the hard association of objects to select objects for displaying and to display the hard association of objects through links described above.

Embodiments of the present invention provide automatic systems and methods for creating a web site based on a particular subject using information available on the Internet. As discussed above, creating and maintaining a web site with updated content can be very time and resource consuming. Therefore, it is desirable to create and maintain such a site with an automatic system and method using information available on the Internet. To create such a site, the subject of the web site is determined first. Afterwards, search terms related to the subject of the web site are entered to conduct searches on the Internet for information relevant to the web site. The search results are used to populate databases for this web site. After the web site is created and launched, users of the site can contribute to the content of the site. User contribution of additional content to a web site keeps the web site updated and interesting to all users of the site. Further, searching on Internet sites is configured to continuously add content that is new and relevant to the web site. In addition, active users of the web site can engage in basic administration of the site, which reduces the need of intervention by paid administrators. Thus, by obtaining content from Internet sites, coupled with contributions made by users, it is possible to automatically create and maintain new custom created sites with minimal intervention by paid administrators.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that the invention might employ various computer-implemented operations involving data stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms, such as producing, identifying, determining, or comparing.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data, which can be thereafter read by a computer system. The computer readable medium may also include an electromagnetic carrier wave in which the computer code is embodied. Examples of the computer readable medium include hard drives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over a network coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Any of the operations described herein that form part of the invention are useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device or an apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may be a general-purpose computer selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in the computer. In particular, various general-purpose machines may be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations.

The above-described invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations including hand-held devices, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims. In the claims, elements and/or steps do not imply any particular order of operation, unless explicitly stated in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for automatically generating a hard association of an object with a tag term entered by users for the object of a web site, comprising: receiving tag terms entered by users for objects of the web site and placing the received tag terms with corresponding objects in at least one database; determining a criteria of hard association for objects to establish hard associations with tag terms entered for the corresponding objects, wherein the object that passes the criteria of hard association is weighted more during selection of objects to display in a prominent location of a web page of the web site and is more likely to be selected; processing data in the at least one database of the web site to identify an object and a corresponding tag term that pass the criteria of hard association; and automatically creating a database to store the identified object and the corresponding tag terms that pass the criteria of hard association, wherein the criteria of hard association includes a percentage of users entering a particular corresponding tag term for an object, and the percentage of users entering a particular corresponding tag term for the object is greater than or equal to a predefined percentage, and wherein the automatically created database includes a column of object identification, a column of corresponding tag term for the object, a column of a number of users entering the corresponding tag term for the object, and a column of a percentage of users who enter a particular corresponding tag term for the object.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding tag terms entered by users describe the content of the objects.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the criteria of hard association includes a number of users entering a particular corresponding tag term for an object.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects can be photos, music pieces, videos, user comments, discussion boards and blogs, and text-based description.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein a weight assigned to the object correlates to a number of users, or a percentage of users entering the corresponding tag term, or a combination of both.
 6. A method for automatically establishing a hard association between two objects through a common tag term and displaying the hard association of the two objects in a web page of a web site, comprising: processing data in at least one database storing objects having hard associations with corresponding tag terms to identify the two objects that have hard associations with the common tag term and to define a hard association between the two identified objects; and automatically creating a database to store the two identified objects and the common tag term, wherein when one of the two identified objects is selected for displaying on a web page of the web site, a link to the other object is displayed along with the object selected, wherein the hard associations of the objects having hard associations with the corresponding tag terms are defined by a minimal number of users or a minimal percentage of users who enter the corresponding tag terms for the objects, wherein an object that passes a criteria of hard association is weighted more during selection of objects to display in a prominent location of the web page of the web site and is more likely to be selected, and wherein the automatically created database includes a column of object identification, a column of corresponding tag term for the object, a column of a number of users entering the corresponding tag term for the object, and a column of a percentage of users who enter a particular corresponding tag term for the object.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the database has a column of objection identification of one of the two objects and a column of object identification for the other object.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the database further includes a column of tag term that the two identified objects have hard associations.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the two objects can be photos, music pieces, videos, user comments, discussion boards and blogs, and text-based description.
 10. A system for automatically creating hard associations of objects with corresponding tag terms entered by users for the object of a web site, comprising: at least a server for storing objects in the web site; a server with an algorithm for collecting tag terms entered by users for objects in the web site; a server for storing in a database hard associations of objects with corresponding tag terms entered by users; and a server for storing algorithm of automatically creating hard associations between the objects with the corresponding tag terms, wherein the hard associations of the objects having hard associations with the corresponding tag terms are defined by a minimal number of users, or a minimal percentage of users who are detected to have entered the corresponding tag terms for the objects, wherein an object that passes a criteria of hard association is weighted more during selection of objects to display in a prominent location of a web page of the web site and is more likely to be selected, and wherein the database includes a column of object identification, a column of corresponding tag term for the object, a column of a number of users entering the corresponding tag term for the object, and a column of a percentage of users who enter a particular corresponding tag term for the object.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the hard associations of the objects having hard associations with the corresponding tag terms are further defined by a combination of a minimal number of users and a minimal percentage of users who enter the corresponding tag terms for the objects.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the server for storing databases of hard associations of objects further includes databases of objects having hard associations by having common tag terms, and wherein the objects and the common tag terms have hard associations.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the server for algorithm of automatically creating hard associations between the objects with the corresponding tag terms also include an algorithm for assigning weights to the objects having hard associations with the corresponding tag terms.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the server for storing databases of hard associations of objects include at least a database for storing weights assigned to the objects. 